Argosy All-Story Weekly — "The Purple Limited" — page 75: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE WINGS OF THE SNOW. the snorting and trumpeting of the great beast; peering eagerly out from his con- cealment, Ku-ro saw in the moonlight a herd coming in single file along the trail to the river, and he trembled, partly from ex- citement, partly from fear; he knew well that should he be discovered the hunter “would swiftly become the hunted, and the Ta-an would Jook long for his coming. But unsuspecting of danger, the vast bulks swung along, nearer and nearer to the trap, and Ku-ro fairly quivered with eagerness as he watched. Closer and clos- er, till the leading beast was en the trap— there came a rending noise, a squeal of ter- ror,~a crash, and the air was rent with 4 hell of nowe such as Ku-ro had never im- agined could come from living throat! Squeals, trumpetings, snorts, groans, screams of agony, and plunging of the dy- ing beast combined to rise in thunder to the silent sky. Terror-stricken, the others whirled about and fled, the earth shaking to their ponderous feet, and gradually the neise grew less and less, fainter and fainter came the sounds from the pitfall, till once ‘ more silence settled down, and naught was to be heard save only the rippling of the water and the sighing of the wind in the leaves. In the morning Ku-ro went to inspect his _ prey, and found to his delight that he had trapped a cow. He was much pleased at this, for not only was the ivory much light- er—a tusk from a bull would make a heavy load for a strong man, but that ef a cow scarce a quarter of this—but it was finer and firmer ef grain—more difficult to carve, but more beautiful when finished, and Ku-ro knew that Tu-sen’s store was of bull ivory. Once more he gave thanks for his good fortune, then cut from the dead beast its tongue and roasted it over a small cooking- fire. Fed, Ku-ro cut out a tusk, shouldered it, and began the homeward journey, reach- ing his cave on the twenty-third day after setting out, the trip home being without incident of importance. True, a serpent struck fiercely at him from its place of hiding in the long grass, and was pinned to the earth ere it could recoil; a leopard followed him for half a 5A ; 641 day, to be driven off by an arrow which sang close to its head; and once Ku-ro, breaking into a little glade, came face to face with a huge bear which was tearing to pieces a tree in search of the wild honey stored therein. - Ku-ro, seeing that it was not a female with cubs, fronted the beast bravely as it rose, black and shaggy, to its hind feet, whereat the bear dropped to all fours and ‘shambled awkwardly away. These, how- ever, were but ordinary incidents of travel, and Ku-ro hastened home with his Wory, eager to begin the task set him by the Lance of Dawn. For the two moons following, Ku-ro la- bored, carving the ivory with his best skill, cunningly; giving to it all of thought and knowledge that lay within him, beginning early and continuing late, for well he knew that his antagonist was not to be despised —that Tu-sen’s skill was almost if not fully the equal of his own. And so gradually the figure took shape under the trained hands and keen, flint tools of the artist, a statuette three palms’ breadth in height, and when it was done Ku-ro was amazed to see that he had un- wittingly carved a portrait of Then-ai, the Lance of Dawn, daughter to the great chieftain! True, he had somewhat idealized it; it was, if possible, fairer than the original, but any of the tribesmen would recognize the likeness, and Ku-ro was in despair. Set to carve the form of a goddess, of the Star- Marked One, he had in his great love made a portrait of a mortal! And realizing this, Ku-ro set down the statuette and buried his face in his hands; deep sobs racked his frame, and through his fingers trickled the hot tears—Then-ai was lost to him! Presently the first agony of grief passed, and. he looked up; gazing despairingly about his cave, his eye fell on the mortar and pestle, roughly hewn of stone, which he used for grinding the colors for his wall- paintings. Dully he stared at them, and of a sudden, unbidden, a thought took form in his mind, growing till Ku-ro, drawn out of himself, rose and walked to the mortar, looking intently into it. Slowly the idea grew, taking definite CONMUC DOOK CO